The present invention relates generally to the field of currency handling systems and, more particularly, to a bill facing mechanism for used in a currency handling system.
A variety of techniques and apparatuses have been used to satisfy the requirements of automated currency handling machines. As businesses and banks grow, these businesses are experiencing a greater volume of paper currency. These businesses are continually requiring not only that their currency be processed more quickly but, also, processed with more options in a less expensive manner. At the upper end of sophistication in this area of technology are machines that are capable of rapidly identifying, discriminating, and counting multiple currency denominations and then delivering the sorted currency bills into a multitude of output compartments. Many of these high end machines are extremely large and expensive such that they are commonly found only in large institutions. These machines are not readily available to businesses which have monetary and space budgets, but still have the need to process large volumes of currency. Other high end currency handling machines require their own climate controlled environment which may place even greater strains on businesses having monetary and space budgets.
Currency handling machines typically employ magnetic sensing or optical sensing for denominating and authenticating currency bills. The results of these processes determines to which output compartment a particular bill is delivered to in a currency handling device having multiple output receptacles. For example, ten dollar denominations may be delivered to one output compartment and twenty dollar denominations to another, while bills which fail the authentication test are delivered to a third output compartment. Unfortunately, many prior art devices only have one output compartment which can be appropriately called a reject pocket. Accordingly, in those cases, the reject pocket may have to accommodate those bills which fail a denomination test or authentication test. As a result, different types of xe2x80x9crejectxe2x80x9d bills are stacked upon one another in the same output compartment leaving the operator unknowing as to which of those bills failed which tests.
Many prior art large volume currency handling devices which positively transport the currency bills through the device are susceptible to becoming jammed. And many of these machines are difficult to un-jam because the operator must physically remove the bill from the device. If necessary, the operator can often manipulate a hand-crank to manually jog the device to remove the bills. Then, the operator must manually turn the hand crank to flush out all the bills from within the system before the batch can be reprocessed. Further compounding the problem in a jam situation is that many prior art devices are not equipped to detect the presence of a jam. In such a situation, the device continues to operate until the bills pile up and the jam is so severe that the device is forced to physically halt. This situation can cause physical damage to both the machine and the bills. Often, a jam ruins the integrity of the count and/or valuation of the currency bills so that the entire batch must be reprocessed.
Weight is another draw-back of prior art high-volume currency handling machines. In part, the weight of these machines is due to the heavy machinery used. For example, some machines contain large cast iron rails on which apparatuses ride to push currency bills down into the storage compartments. Unfortunately, the increased weight of these machines often translates into increased costs associated with the machine.
Another disadvantage to some prior art currency handling devices is the manner of feeding bills into the device. Many prior art devices only have one advance mechanism so the operator of the device can only process one stack of bills at a time before reloading the machine. Alternatively, the operator can attempt to simultaneously manipulate the stack of bills currently being processed, a new stack of bills, and the feeder mechanism.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a multiple output receptacle currency handling device for receiving a stack of currency bills and rapidly processing all the bills in the stack. One aspect of the present invention is directed to an apparatus for rotating a bill approximately 180xc2x0. The apparatus comprises a first and a second belt. The first belt has a bill transport portion, a return portion, a first end, and a second end. The second end of first belt being twisted approximately 180xc2x0 in relation to the first end of the first belt. The second belt has a bill transport portion, a return portion, a first end, and second end. The bill transport portion of the first belt is disposed adjacent to the bill transport portion of the second belt. The second end of second belt is twisted approximately 180xc2x0 in relation to the first end of the second belt. A bill transport path is defined by the bill transport portions of the first and the second belts. The bill transport path has an inlet and an outlet. The outlet of the bill transport path is twisted approximately 180xc2x0 in relation to the inlet. A plurality of guides are disposed adjacent to the bill facing path for supporting the outer portions of the bill which extend beyond a width of the first and the second belts as the bill is being transported along the transport path.
The above summary of the present invention is not intended to represent each embodiment, or every aspect, of the present invention. Additional features and benefits of the present invention will become apparent from the detail description, figures, and claim set forth below.